


Tales and Trials of Friendship

by SapphireNight



Category: Wicked
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Drama, Female Friendship, Friendship, Future Fic, Next Generation, Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2006-10-21
Updated: 2011-08-26
Packaged: 2017-10-21 14:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireNight/pseuds/SapphireNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wicked next generation, with a twist. Rose, the daughter of High Ruler Glinda the Good, learned to be cruel hearted at the very largest of Emerald City schools. But when they move to the furthest outreaches of Oz, she learns what true friendship is all about- and discovers hidden secrets of the past. For Glinda was not the only person to relocate her family to Elmsglade, as the tired ex-ruler discovers more than 18 years after declaring the death of her best friend at the hands of the Kansas Girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rose in the Flames

Rose Gray waited anxiously in the depressingly cold small office, her pale blue eyes dancing around nervously for any sign that the Headmistress might be approaching. She had only ever been in any headmistress's office once before, and on that particular occasion, hadn't relished being told that her personal team of hair and beauty experts weren't permitted to follow her around during class time. To be fair, she had been ten at the time, and had only ever been home schooled previously.

Rose was also the daughter of one of the most celebrated and well known public leaders in the Land of Oz, Glinda the Good. Inevitably, Rose had always lived a life of luxury.

To Rose's left sat her father, a kind faced man in his mid forties with wavy locks of light brown hair, highlighted here and there by a few strands of grey. His features were warm and round; he had a fuller face, and his skin was lined around his mouth and eyes, suggesting that a glowing smile usually lit his features. Noticing her anxiously glancing round the bland room, he reached over and grasped her hand lightly, giving it a small squeeze.

"Everything's going to be alright. Don't worry; you'll see." He muttered towards her. She gave a shuddering gulp in reply. He turned away, his small smile unnoticed by Rose, and returned to his book.

Rose wished desperately that the clock fixed to the wall would stop going backwards, and would start moving in something resembling normal time, but it seemed that every time the second hand moved, it took hours to do so.

A small click signalled the entrance of the room's main occupier. Rose's head snapped towards the door as a severe looking lady in an immaculate red skirt suit strode purposefully into the room.

"Miss Gray, Mr Gray, I am sorry for the delay. My name is Madame Penny-Foster, I am the headmistress." She declared, issuing her hand forward for each to shake.

"Welcome to Elmsley School, I hope you enjoy your time here." the headmistress stated, matter-of-factly. Her eyes were dull and cold. "Now, I have your time table and a homework diary for your use. You should take note of the list of rules printed here on the first page. These include 'not running inside any of the school buildings', 'to respect the staff and your fellow students', and 'to obey staff requests.' A full list of rules are printed on the inside cover of your homework diary; may I advise that you take quarter of an hour or so to review them in full at your earliest convenience."

Rose gave her a slightly exasperated look at her language. True, her internal organs still felt like they had been shoved into a food blender and liquidated, but there was something about the way a person presented themselves, consciously or subconsciously, which Rose was not able to ignore. It was a talent derived from being one of the most popular and well respected girls in her old school.

"Well, Miss Gray, if you would like to follow me, I will show you to your first class."

Rose followed the formidable lady wordlessly as she led her out, and along a narrow grey corridor. The headmistress made idle chat as she walked Rose to her class, but she only half listening.

"I really hope that you settle in well here, Miss Gray. It must be quite a shock to be travelling so far away from your own land. Goodness knows, the people here are quite different from those in the Land of Oz. We are a tight little community. You might even call Elmsglade a village. I suggest that unless you wish to be the local outcast, you try your best to fit in. We already have a rather unusual family in that position. Now, I know that at Emerald City North School-"

" West School. I was at Emerald West, Madame...?"

"Penny-Foster. You were at Emerald City West School, were you? I've heard that to be one of the largest schools in all of Oz." It wasn't a question. It was more of a dismissive statement.

"Yes, it is, Madame Penny-Foster. There is one larger to the North, but Emerald West is the largest in the centre of Oz. The Emerald City itself has five secondary/high schools within its boundaries, and several other colleges and primary schools." Replied Rose with a slightly overly-enthusiastic air. She knew that life could be far easier if she had the power to manipulate the headmistress slightly. When you became the headmistress's teachers pet, you were often favoured by other teachers aswell. It was a trick she had learnt in her primary school. After all, being allowed only one piece of chocolate sponge cake for pudding can get quite irritating after a while, especially if they've of half decent quality.

"However, here at Elmsley School, we have very much higher standards, due to the fact that we have small class sizes, and have a very impressive teacher-to-student ratio…"

Rose tuned her out. She continued to follow a pace behind Madame Penny-Foster, and began studying her surroundings. The walls were covered in weird and controversial works of art, and she amused herself by wondering just what substances and herbs the students has been taking in order to have produced such works of violent imagination and colour. Probably nothing that was provided in the school canteen, that was for sure.

Madame Penny-Foster made a sudden right at a red door labelled 'Ash', and pushed it open without any notice. The door ricocheted off of a group of lockers beside it, and gave the class the warning they needed. Inside, it was complete havoc. Rose couldn't think of another word to best describe the situation which lay before her. She had been so worried about what such a small school would be like when she had been educated in one of the largest schools on Oz, and yet she had forgotten the one major thing- it was still a school. Be it little or not, schools were there to house and pester children during those precious hours of the day, and if there was one thing which didn't change in nature, whichever land you went to, that was the nature of a teenager. Or 20 of them, to be more precise, standing in groups, sitting on the tables, _lounging_ on tables, laughing, yelling, chatting, and pretty much, just having fun.

That was, until their undivided attention was attained by the echoing gong of the lockers and their headmistress, standing to its right, a look of mingled shock and horror on her face. The room was plunged into deafening silence. The dull 'clip, clip' of her stilettos crisply followed her movements as she strode forwards tentatively, as if submerging herself in a pool of water just slightly below that of what she would have preferred. Several girls slid off the tables they had been perching on; one who had been lying over two desks jumped up to a sitting position as if electrocuted and slid down, her face glowing deep red as Madame Penny-Foster's eyes singled her out and narrowed.

"You. What do you think you were doing? Do you not get enough sleep at night? Do you think that _lying_ on a school table is suitable behaviour? See me after your lesson, I want to know exactly what you were thinking when you decided to act in such an outrageous manor."

She then turned her attention to the whole class. "Now, if you hadn't noticed, we have a guest with us- _do not interrupt me, Master Faleap._ Her name is Rose Gray, and she is to begin attending this fine school. She is new to the land, so I hope you all make her feel welcome, and that you all give her your help and support. Now, is there anything you would like to say, Miss Gray?" She gave a sweeping hand movement towards the class, and then without waiting, turned her heel and left. All eyes turned to the new girl.

Rose felt herself shudder and drown. Yes, there had been something she was planning to say. In her head, she had been rehearsing exactly how she was going to _introduce herself_ for a week now. She had been formulating it since she found out her family was moving, and she was to be forced into a new school. This self introduction had been practiced in her head for hours upon hours last night, whilst she tossed and turned in her soft bed. But now, as she surveyed the teenaged boys and girls staring back at her, she found herself temporarily unable to address them.

"I am Rose Andretta Gray," she faltered. "Daughter- um, daughter of Glinda the Good, High Ruler- no," Her eyes jumped to the second door to the classroom, as two suddenly silenced girls slipped inside, "Er, Ex High Ruler of the land of Oz." She drew a ragged breath "I am from the Emerald City, capital of Oz." Their bodies started to bounce with half suppressed laughter. Rose wrenched her eyes away. "I will be 16 at the end of October. And I, I will be studying Art, Politics, and History as well as, er, the usual um, topics…" She stammered, and trailed off. One of the girls who had just entered was giggling so badly, that she had stuffed her hand into her mouth to try and stop the noise. Her face had become bright scarlet, almost indistinguishable from the varying shades of violent red hair which flowed down her back as her friend tried in vein not to burst out laughing herself due to the look on her face.

Rose stood rooted to the spot. Her body began to shake as her eyes danced from one incredulous face to another. Several people started to whisper shamelessly to each other, throwing Rose furtive glances. She felt her breath hitch raggedly in her throat as her pulse rate increased phenomenally, her heart pounding in her chest. She suddenly realised her mouth was devoid of all moisture.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She was the daughter of the respected High Ruler Glinda the Good. She was known and feared by many in Emerald City West, the largest school in all Oz. She was supposed to be adored, respected, feared.

Popular.

Some mental switch in her head snapped, and she did the only thing she could. She turned suddenly on the spot, bodily shoved the young lady behind her away, and ran to the door.

Her hand was just about to grasp the knob when the door was flung open from the outside, and the body of a tall male student blocked her way. He started yelling out towards the class; Rose jumped backwards in shock and then screamed.

He was green. A rich emerald green, it covered all visible skin. He was a very angry _green_ young man. It was a green that Rose had only heard stories of, and seen fewer treasured photos of.

" PHOENIX! Phoenix where the hell are you, I know you're here. You turn me back right now, you bloody raving lunatic!" He roared. He seemed at first oblivious of the public reaction to his skin tone- or perhaps, was he just fuelled by it? But, as Rose watching him, she saw his eyes become uncertain, even frightened, as his attention became drawn to expressions and emotions, rather then just identities.

Rose was backed up against the wall. The whole class was laughing. She knew it wasn't at her, but it still sent chills running down her spine. They were all laughing with such passion and cruelty in their gazes, but there was one laugh which distinctly rose above all others. It was the sound of a high cackle. A cackle which pierced ears and travelled over all other noise.

The class suddenly quietened, leaving the cackle to resound around the walls for a few seconds with ominous flair. Several students shifted themselves out of the way, and the source was suddenly revealed. Vibrant red hair, flowing past her shoulders and trickling down her lower back, a wickedly cruel yet satisfied smile lingering on her lips. It was the girl who had fought back laughter at Rose's self introduction. All watched in vicious fascination as the angry man with the green skin challenged the fiery young lady.

"Phoenix, I know you are the one who did this! You change me back. Now! You did this, now undo it!"

There was silence as the entire room turned in unison to look at Phoenix. "Well, Master Radford, you shouldn't have told that new Drama nitwit Madame Pritchard that I would be green for her!" She declared silkily, relishing the looks of dismay and horror on his face. "Just because I go out with you on a few dates, doesn't mean you can determine if I will do something I have refused to do. This is what you get for going behind my back; for setting me up. You laugh behind my back, now we laugh at yours. So now, Master Radford, enjoy _your_ time being 'Wicked'!" Phoenix cried triumphantly. The class began to applaud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> I really hope you have enjoyed reading this. I have a few things I need to inform you of. Yes, I will be continuing with this story, it is by no means over. **I have the entire plot written out, and I estimate that there will be a total of 20-30 chapters** , each 1200-2000 words in length (this first chapter is 2,200 words long). I have a lot of story to tell!
> 
> Can you please be aware that I do not have a proof reader, nor a beta reader. This is all my own work, but if you spot a spelling or grammatical mistake I have over looked, can you please inform me of this so I can fix it. It's very easy for a writer to read what they think they have written, not what it actually on the page, and it very embarrassing when you notice a particularly bad mistake, years after a chapter has been uploaded (yes, it has happened!). Thank you, ChocolatStar for listing some mistakes, which have now been corrected.
> 
> Just in case you were wondering, the 'Angry Green Man' is not related in any way to Phoenix, the cackling red haired girl. Neither is he related to Elphaba, either.
> 
> Lastly, a disclaimer: I am a university student. I am currently living off of pizza, pasta and Frosties. Trust me, I don't own either the book or the musical.


	2. Rose in the Flames

_There was silence as the entire room turned in unison to look at Phoenix. "Well, Master Radford, you shouldn't have told that new Drama nitwit Madame Pritchard that I would be green for her!" She declared silkily, relishing the looks of dismay and horror on his face. "Just because I go out with you on a few dates, doesn't mean you can determine if I will do something I have refused to do. This is what you get for going behind my back; for setting me up. You laugh behind my back, now we laugh at yours. So now, Master Radford, enjoy your time being 'Wicked'!" Phoenix cried triumphantly. The class began to applaud._

 _

* * *

_Rose remained hidden at the rear of the class, her back against the wall. After just 30 seconds, she had become old news. She was invisible. No one looked at her, no one spoke to her. She was just there, watching.

And so she watched.

The green Master Radford had fled from the room. The other students had continued to laugh and chatter amongst themselves, and there, right in the centre, was Phoenix.

Rose studied the girl with interest. It was quite obvious. She was _The Girl_. The One to know, the one who everyone else wanted to be. She was surrounded by giggling girls and chuckling boys, and they were all looking towards her, talking to her, adoring her.

By her clothes, hair style, and general appearance (never mind the hair colour), Rose would have said that this was the last person who would be popular in any school in the Emerald City. And yet, here she was. Right in the centre of the crowd. Rose had the ability to read appearances like an open book, she could perceive emotions from even the most hidden of faces. She had only been in this remote village of Elmsglade for a couple of days now, but whilst the differences between this quirky little place and the capital of Oz were monumental, the basic rules regarding fashion still applied.

Phoenix wasn't dressed in the most expensive silks and velvets. Her arms weren't hanging with bejewelled bracelets, her fingers weren't weighed down with heavy rings, and no expensive pendent hanged from around her neck. She wore a simple dress in the darkest of reds, emphasised by the almost impossible shade of her hair. The colour was natural, there was no doubt about that, but it was swept out of her face in the most simplest and careless of fashions. The dress wasn't hooped or padded, and material looked to be of simple cotton, which clung to her thin frame rather too elegantly in Rose's opinion.

Rose gave a little start. Phoenix's eyes had locked on her. Rose quickly looked away, intimidated, and slightly ashamed. She hadn't intentionally meant to stare at her, but she had been too curious. She had never been in this situation before. For four years, she had worked to keep on the top of the food chain, but never since she started school, had she ever had to climb her way up from the bottom. Here, everyone knew everyone; everyone knew what everyone was like, everyone knew everybody else's passions and impulses. Except for Rose. If she needed any hope of gaining some status, she would have to act soon, and hard.

Never had Rose looked someone in the eyes who made such little effort to be where she was.

Phoenix looked away from Rose and towards the door. It opened.

Rose looked round in confusion as the chattering students suddenly quietened, dispersed, and found a reassigned desk to sit at. She watched in amazement as a large grey suited Cat walked round to stand at the centre of the class, and survey the room with his keen eyes.

It wasn't that the teacher was an Animal which amazed her. Since Glinda's rule, Animals had all the same rights of humans. In Emerald West, Rose had been taught by a Dog, an Elephant, several Falcons and even a Squirrel, but _never_ had the mere entrance of any teacher elicited complete silence from a class.

The Cat's face grew warm as he spotted Rose and beckoned her forwards. He held out a paw for her to shake, and said in a low but not unfriendly voice, "Welcome. I presume you are the new student, Miss Roe Gray? My name is Mr Simon, I am the English teacher."

Rose corrected her name. Mr Simon smiled and gave a slight nod, but he didn't repeat it. Rose felt slightly put out, but kept it to herself.

Looking over the class again, Mr Simon addressed them. "Is Master Kris here? I believe I saw him this morning walking to school." Several students began to snigger to themselves. Phoenix's expression remained neutral, but her eyes were bright with guilty memory. Others gave her sneaky little glances.

Mr Simon regarded the class. "Would this have anything to do with the vividly green young man who was running through the corridors a few minutes ago?" he asked, with a playful smile, looking primarily at Phoenix. There was another pause. Several more students began to gleam with suppressed laughter. Rose watched them, slightly confused. Wasn't the name of that green guy something else?

Mr Simon shook his head and turned towards Rose again. "Since we have a desk free, you can sit at Master Kris Radford's place for this lesson. This will also be your form room, apparently, so you will be allowed the use of one of the lockers. Your form tutor will probably give you the key during afternoon registration. I'll see that an extra desk is added for you later today."

Rose thanked him and sat down in the only remaining free seat. Mr Simon pulled down a clean blackboard and wrote the title of a topic, 'Poems- the form of the Quell'. The lesson started.

Rose glanced around her. In front of her and one seat to the left the unmistakable red hair of Phoenix. It was swaying slightly as the girl began to write notes. _Since when do popular girls make their own class notes?_ She saw her smile sideways at a friend when Mr Simon had his back turned to write a spelling on the board. Rose's mood became even sourer. She glanced right and saw the girl beside her give her a stony look. Since the person to her other side was in a frenzy writing, Rose leaned in, and tried to engage the stony girl in conversation.

"He called me 'Roe'. Don't you think at this day and age, teachers should be able to get their students names right?" Rose whispered. She actually quite liked the Cat, but this would serve nicely as a way of asserting her independence of thinking, an undeniable trait of anyone with any status of 'popularity'. She was the leader; they were the sheep. And anyway, weren't teachers the 'enemy'?

The girl just studied her reproachfully for a moment, before choosing to answer her.

"He's a Cat. They have trouble with the 'zz' sound" she replied simply. She then gave Rose a look which plainly stated that this was the end of the discussion. Rose persisted.

"What about this girl, Phoenix? Is she always in the centre of the crowd, or was it just a special occasion today? I mean to say, _that dress…_ "

The girl turned in her seat to glare at Rose loathingly. "Phoenix is my friend. She's a nice girl; who cares what she wears?" she spit out with venom.

"Yes, well there are some of us with _taste_ , and of course, some of us even have money..." Rose retaliated, her features contorted with annoyance.

Mr Simon cleared his throat. From the front of the classroom, he was looking directly at Rose as if there was nobody else in the room. Everybody else stared in her direction as well. Her little conversation had carried quite a way. Mr Simon slowly shook his head; the meaning was obvious. Phoenix was giving her the most unusual of looks.

To her right, the girl looked murderous.

The class went on. Rose started making her own notes (something she hadn't done in a _long_ time), and she dismissed the conversation she had had with the pathetic girl.

At the same time, the mind of said pathetic girl was swimming in a sea of anger, and every time the conversation echoed inside her head, it just served to encourage the intensity of the flames.

 _Something has to be done,_ she thought darkly. She tenderly rubbed her arm where a large bruise was forming, the result of being forcefully shoved into a desk just 15 minutes previously by the self-contented brat sitting just next to her.

 _Something has to be done. And for the love of Lurline, I'm going to be the one to do it._


	3. Repercussions

' _Something has to be done', the girl thought darkly. She tenderly rubbed her arm where a large bruise was forming, the result of being forcefully shoved into a desk just 15 minutes previously by the self-contented brat sitting just next to her._

' _Something has to be done. And for the love of Lurline, I'm going to be the one to do It.'_

* * *

Rose felt her breath hitch in her throat. She span on the spot, grabbed the classroom door, hauled it open, and ran down the corridor as if her life depended on it. Locating the room she wanted, she barged yet another girl out of the way to get at it, trying to minimise the amount of time they could see her. But it didn't matter, from just one glance the damage would have been already done. Rose locked herself into a cubical, brought her feet up onto the edge of the toilet seat cover, and bowed her tear stained face onto her knees.

It was just at the end of morning break, and Rose had re-entered the 'Ash' classroom, hoping to find out where her next lesson was, when it had happened. The whole class had been brought to an abrupt standstill by her arrival, and after a second of shocked silence, had began to laugh. Hysterically. Some people began to clap in appreciation or vicious encouragement, others looked round to see if their friends had noticed Rose's arrival.

Each with a menace in their eye, they laughed, they whispered, they pointed. Her pride completely deflated, Rose had fled.

* * *

The class turned their attention to Phoenix. Swarming around her, they each fought for their silly little question to be heard.

"How did you do that?"

"What did she do?"

"She looked a right piece of work, but I didn't see anything that bad from her…"

"That was truly amazing."

"How much shall I give you to do that to my ex-boyfriend?"

Phoenix tried in vain to be heard over the din, then finally shouted to gain their attention.

"EVERYONE! EVERYONE! I didn't do this,"

A sandy haired boy made to protest, but Phoenix turned to him in anger.

"I did not do this. But like you're all saying, I'm the only person who could. Yes, the potion was mine, but I never gave it to her." She paused, looking round at her friends in cold anger. "Which leaves us with a big problem- the potion was in my bag; who has been stealing from me?" she finished in a deadly low whisper which everyone heard.

There was a silence as the students tried to fully comprehend what she had just said. Phoenix was the quirky one, the kind one, the practical joker, the witch. She was the unestablished leader of the year group, she disbanded disputes, she made people happy when they wanted to cry, she rallied people together when they felt like defeat. She rarely accused people of anything; she had earned peoples respect, and rarely had anybody abused her trust.

"Come on, you all know I had it, after my little display with Kris. He deserved it, but as far as I know, the new girl didn't. Who thought they had the right to go rummaging through my bag, and steal from me? My potion- You don't even know how it works, what it might do, side effects and other things. As it happens, I needed to use several dangerous and very expensive ingredients. It cost a lot of money to put that together. I am a witch, but that doesn't mean that that is free. I know what your parents whisper about my family behind our backs. I hope you appreciate me a lot more than this suggests you do."

She gave the class a final cold glance before walking away. At the doorway, Mr Simons the teacher watched her with concern as she approached him. As she drew level with him, she softly spoke, barely able to contain her anger. "I believe the new girl will not be making her next lesson. I am going to make sure her teacher is aware of this." She slipped past him, and out of the classroom.

She began walking down the corridor, before she stopped and turned back. One girl had followed her out of the class, seeking a word with her in private. Phoenix surveyed her with wounded disappointment.

The girl began recounting her excuses.

* * *

Rose angrily wiped the tears away from her cheeks with the material of her skirts. They stung her skin with a salty bitterness, like salt water on really sensitive or grazed skin.

She carefully withdrew a clip from her hair- there was really no point wearing it now- and ran her hands through the locks. Her slender manicured _green_ hands.

Through the material of her cream silk tights, she could see the emerald green glow beneath. She had raided up her shirt a couple of inches and again saw the unnatural colour adorning the flesh round her waist. Though she had no mirror, she knew the colour had infected her face as well. All of her skin had been tinged with this unholy colour.

Her mind screamed in chaos. She wanted to tear; to claw at the filthy infected skin. She gave a half choked scream of despair, as one hand jerked over the back of her arm in a sudden haze of frenzied panic, before an unnatural stillness overtook her.

She surveyed the back of her hand in morbid shock and disgust. It chilled her as her wounded mind considered the sick question of what colour her blood coursing through her veins had now become. Green fingers lay poised over the soft, green skin, before falling redundently to her side, as Rose lay mentally exhausted.

Her eyes flooded with tears again, and with half muffled sobbs, she laid her head once more on her now damp skirts, her hands hanging uselessly below her.

The bathroom door swung open. Rose held her breath.

There was the soft noise of hesitant footsteps, and the long shadow came to rest in front of Rose's cubical.

Phoenix knocked on the closed door. "Hello?" She asked cautiously.

"Go Away." Rose replied quickly. Her voice was choked, and there was an aching weight in her throat; a sign, so obvious, of her current emotional state. Phoenix was slightly taken aback. "My name is Phoenix, I-"

"Go away. I don't want you here." Rose cried, her voice rising dangerously in pitch and volume.

Phoenix had to take a moment to consider her response. She sounded like a trapped, wounded animal. A wounded animal, ready to attack the hand which helps it. The girl didn't know the facts; she didn't even know who anyone was yet. It was her right to be angry. Just not at her.

"I'm sure you don't, but I wasn't the one to do this to you." Replied Phoenix softly.

She leant cross-armed against the cubical door in a casual manner.

"But, but that green boy, who came running in earlier? I thought you… Or am I confusing you with- Yes, I'm confusing you with someone else, now, aren't I?" Rose babbled, her voice trailing off as embarrassment added to the numbness of her mind.

"No, that was me. Kris had been my boyfriend for a little while. He had gone and told the new drama teacher that I wanted to star as the Witch of the West in the planned production for GreenDay. Everyone but that teacher knows I absolutely hate that celebration, so she comes up to me to talk about auditions and whatever. Kris had near collapsed in hysterics, laughing his head off behind her. He didn't seem so nice after that. So I decided to get some revenge. That's why I mixed up that potion."

"So then why do I deserve it?" Rose cried in outrage.

"Like I said, I wasn't the one to give you the potion. It was stolen from my bag, by someone who you apparently had offended."

There was a second of silence. "Sorry?"

"She said that you had pushed her hard into a desk after your rather botched self introduction. She also said that you had been insulting Mr Simon and- her friends." Phoenix explained. She knew Rose understood exactly who 'her friends' meant, but it didn't seem right to outright state it was she who had been insulted. Phoenix wasn't trying to accuse or depress Rose further. Her punishment had been humiliating in the extreme; Phoenix was just trying to make amends.

There was another lengthy silence. Both girls glanced around their surroundings in awkward absent mindedness. Phoenix decided she had finally outstayed her welcome.

"Look. The potion will only work for a short while- an hour or so. Stay here until it wears off, then go to your lessons. I'm going to tell your next teacher not to expect you, alright? Oh, and just a word of warning. Keep away from water. That pigmentation is the same mineral which made the real Witch of the West green. As it happens, the stuff reacts violently with water. I've used less than she had in her skin at any one time, but it will still probably burn or irritate your skin if you splash yourself. So try and keep your face dry. You'll be normal soon."

The shoes turned, and retreated out from Rose's sight. She didn't know the girl, but she was the first person to have actually acknowledged her as a real person. In an awkward last moment attempt at returning the favour, Rose uncertainty found her voice again.

"Wait. I, er, I guess… Thanks." She glanced round in aggravation. Phoenix stood poised by the door.

"How did you know I was in here?" Rose concluded quietly.

A little chuckle escaped Phoenix's lips. "Where else does anyone go when they want some privacy. Yours was the only locked door, yet there are no feet to be seen underneath. I would be deeply surprised, and shocked, if you had been using the facilities."

Rose smiled slightly, despite herself.

There was a scream of hinges, and then Phoenix was gone.


	4. The Trouble With Schools Is

" _Look. The potion will only work for a short while- an hour or so. Stay here until it wears off, then go to your lessons. I'm going to tell your next teacher not to expect you, alright? Oh, and just a word of warning. Keep away from water. That pigmentation is the same mineral which made the real Witch of the West green. As it happens, the stuff reacts violently with water. I've used less than she had in her skin at any one time, but it will still probably burn or irritate your skin if you splash yourself. So try and keep your face dry. You'll be normal soon."_

 _There was a scream of hinges, and then Phoenix was gone._

* * *

Phoenix flung the bathroom door open with such force that it ricocheted off the concrete wall.

It was the end of lunch break. The warning bell had just sounded, and Rose the new girl had not been seen by anyone since she had run out of the Ash classroom, her skin newly re-pigmented. That had been over two hours ago.

Phoenix hammered on the locked cubical door. Understandably, the response she received was a half choked "Go away!", but it was undeniably from Rose.

"You know, you could have done the decency of actually turning up for class on your first day. I don't know what things are like where you were, but here, students are actually expected to attend their lessons." Phoenix called fiercely.

"Go Away!" Rose yelled, by way of polite response. "Don't talk about what I'm expected to do, just look at me, I don't suppose that's what convention dictates you normally do to someone on their first day."

"Oh, don't bring that up again. So what, you had a prank played on you, who cares? I told your teacher you'd be in the class. Not that I'd normally care about something like that, but you made me look like a right fool. Now, open up, you're not even green anymore- that stuff only stays in the system one hour, I should know, I tested it on my brother."

The metal bolt slid back from inside the cubical, and the door swung open. Rose stood in the empty space, her face still damp with tears, her eyes now narrowed in anger.

"Oh, so this 'isn't green anymore', I suppose, then. I think you should go back to school."

Phoenix was unable to speak for several moments. "I told you not to get your face wet…" she said weakly. Even under the green of Rose's new pigmentation, her flesh was visibly red and sore.

With a snap, the cubical door closed in Phoenix's face. A crack and then two thumps signalled that Rose has pulled down the toilet seat cover, sat on it and placed her feet on the rim. The awkward silence lasted for several minutes. Finally Phoenix, who was now sitting on the floor as well, one foot jammed against the main door of the bathroom to ensure they weren't disturbed, spoke up.

"Maybe if you had tried to be more civil this wouldn't have happened to you." She said, slowly, with caution. She wasn't being spiteful, just honest. "You know what they say about people making their minds up about someone in the first 5 minutes of seeing them? Well, I have to say, you're not very skilled at this whole 'first impressions' thing."

"Maybe I'm not," Rose replied solemnly. "But I've never had the opportunity to practice. I've never been new before when everyone else has settled in. I thought that if I behave the way I normally do, then it won't matter. People would understand that's who I was and then get on with their lives."

"What, so you think that a new family struts into our little village and no one would be interested?"

"Well, yes."

Phoenix gave a snort of disbelief. "I'd like to see that last school you came from!" she said, shaking her head in amused disbelief.

"I doubt you would, actually." Rose's reply came steadily and slowly, barely more then a whisper.

"No? Why?"

"Because you seem to have a particular attachment to knowing people. In somewhere like the Emerald City, you simply don't know anyone."

Phoenix gave another snort of indignation. "Not knowing anyone? Emerald City, the biggest city in Oz? No wonder you're such a failure here."

The lamps gave an uncontrolled burst of flame then extinguished themselves. Phoenix hastily ran to the wall and shut the gas valve off as Rose began her tirade.

"You don't understand anything. Do you know what it is like, in a city so large as Emerald City? Well, do you? This whole village wouldn't make up so much as a speck compared to the Emerald City. The schools there are factories. So large, there's nothing human left inside them. I was in Emerald West, it is well known as being the largest of the Emerald schools. Notorious even. Several thousand children go in; several thousand identical copies go out. You can't even begin to understand what that means."

"Well, maybe I can't." Phoenix replied defensively.

"Well, I can! Four to five hundred kids in one year. Ten to twelve forms in most year groups. I had forty other people in most lessons. I shared classes with at least two hundred other students. How can you know people then? You spend an hour or two in the same room every week, but then what? Sure, people have their close friends, and sure, some forms actually know most of everyone in that form. I had the privilege of being one of those few to have a natural high standing in a form like that. I watched over that year as the form banded together, and set itself against this outcast from the class. Just a small little thing, her only crime was that she had been raised by a couple of Animals after her parents died. The girl committed suicide before the year was out. After that, I learnt what no school should ever teach; I learnt not to be a victim. I asserted my power and made sure that I could not could not be targeted; I learnt how to make sure others knew that I had control. In other words, I became cruel. I closed off my heart, and any emotion for anyone else. I became a ringleader, the most powerful girl in school; others flocked around me, for some semblance of status or protection from other bullies or even their own insignificance. When I came here, to Elmsglade, I just planned to get a firm foot holding early on so I wasn't targeted as 'the new student', and get a feel and understanding for the type of people there were here. To single out the person with the popular status, and see if they would be a threat. Not to any planes of popularity, but as a threat to me, as a person. I learnt to fight fire with fire, Phoenix. I didn't learn not to strike a match in a dry forest."

Phoenix was speechless. It wasn't just what she said that particularly frightened her most- though it shocked her deeply, but the ferocity and sheer coldness of the way she said it which seemed to remove all remaining warmth from the room.

"Did- did you know her? That girl, the one who…" Phoenix asked tentatively after a short silence.

Rose gave a hollow laugh. "No. I don't even remember her name. Just that she was weak. I made a point afterwards not to care anymore." The two girls remained in silence again for several more minutes.

"I'm just not used to this. To people knowing who everyone is. To people actually sitting silently in class and listening." Rose began, unexpectedly. Phoenix regarded the cubical door with curiosity.

"Yes, well, 'tis the convention in schools, now a days." She gave a sigh, and then continued. "We need to get back to class. They always take a register every lesson, and if you're absent too many times, they tell your parents. I'm already on the verge of a detention, but if they tell my mum, then I'm done for."

"You can go then, that's fine. I can't go out in this state, but thanks for coming back and talking to me." Rose said softly.

A smile slipped slyly onto Phoenix's face. "No. I'm sorry, but I can't do that. You see, technically, your little adjustment of pigmentation is my fault, I can be held responsible for it. Which means leaving you here would be highly unethical; it would go against all morals that this great and mighty (and I do agree, somewhat tiny) school has taught me. Miss Rose, I am so sorry to have to inform you of this, but now that I'm here, the only way I can leave this rather dark bathroom now is if you leave with me."

"And how am I supposed to do that, I'm green." Came Rose's slightly gurgled answer, as if her chin were resting on her chest.

"It just so happens that I have figured out why you are still this refreshing colour. I can't do anything to reverse it, but I can promise you that you will wake up tomorrow your normal peachy self."

"And that would be coming from the same person who told me that it would wear off in just one hour?" Rose said lightly, one eyebrow raised. She heard a slight chuckle.

"That would be coming from the very person who developed and brewed the potion."

"Oh, right," came Rose's sarcastic answer. "Then can you please suggest how I can go out again whilst my skin is still deluding itself that I'm the Witch of the West? That's social suicide. I might be hopeless at first impressions, but what sort of impression would I make now? Everyone was already staring at me when I wasn't green."

"You forget one small detail, my pretty."

"Oh yes? And what's that?"

"You will have to figure out exactly which half of the stares are for you."

Rose started as the bold on the door slid back of its own accord, and creaked open to reveal Phoenix leaning against the opposite wall casually, her arms clasped behind her flaming red hair, contrasting garishly with her newly greenified skin tone.

"Two green girls won't attract twice the attention, and people will easily accept your skin tone if they see mine like this too. Don't forget, I'm well known as the practical joker. People will be wondering exactly what we did to each other, did you strike first and I retaliated, or did I decide to 'test' you and you got the better of me? No one will think you're weird or unusual if you stick with me, my presence alone usually signals trouble. People will probably give you a lot of respect for apparently getting one over me, but also for being willing to go around like this. Come on." Phoenix extended an emerald hand. Rose took it and uncurled herself from her sitting position.

"But, won't you just return to normal in an hour?" Rose said curiously. Phoenix broke into a slightly reminiscent smile. "No, that's the thing. The reason you're still green now? I'm the only other person that would have the same reaction. One of the ingredients I use to attach the green colouring to the normal pigmentation only works because of natural energy in the body, the energy of being a living person. Normally, the amount I use would stop working after an hour, but very rarely someone has an unnaturally large amount of 'other' energy in them, and it feeds off that for longer. Someone like me, and apparently, like you as well. Someone with an innate talent for sorcery."

Phoenix then led Rose out of the bathroom, the confident witch leading the hesitant witch, out of their solitude and through the unknown crowd of lesser mortals, revelling in the amused stares and murmured whispers which passed them. Phoenix gave a wave to her school friends, and the students laughed as if she had told a joke. She looked to Rose encouragingly, and it was the first time Phoenix saw her smile.


	5. Meeting Mrs Rachaels

_"Two green girls won't attract twice the attention, and people will easily accept your skin tone if they see mine like this too. Don't forget, I'm well known as the practical joker. People will be wondering exactly what we did to each other, did you strike first and I retaliated, or did I decide to 'test' you and you got the better of me? No one will think you're weird or unusual if you stick with me, my presence alone usually signals trouble. People will probably give you a lot of respect for apparently getting one over me, but also for being willing to go around like this. Come on." Phoenix extended an emerald hand. Rose took it and uncurled herself from her sitting position._

 _Phoenix then led Rose out of the bathroom, the confident witch leading the hesitant witch, out of their solitude and through the unknown crowd of lesser mortals, revelling in the amused stares and murmured whispers which passed them. Phoenix gave a wave to her school friends, and the students laughed as if she had told a joke. She looked to Rose encouragingly, and it was the first time Phoenix saw her smile._

* * *

It was official. Teachers did not have an appreciation for the colour pink.

By some miracle, Rose had just about survived her first day, despite the fact that she was as green as sin, and was being led around by someone equally as green. It didn't help that Phoenix's bright red hair was clashing horrendously with her skin, a fact that seemed to energise Phoenix even more. No one had passed comment on Rose's green colouring; as anticipated, it was immediately understood when the fluorescent Phoenix would enter directly behind her. The one curious thing all the teachers had commented on was that the colour of Rose's ink was 'not permissible', as Professor Milta had put it. It seemed as if they were trying to find some legitimate thing on which to comment, as skin colour was obviously a taboo subject.

Teachers here did not have an appreciation for fine calligraphy, nor did they have an appreciation for the colour pink. The ink Rose was using was a fine, warm colour, not too watery and light, not too dark and garish. A perfect colour for expressing the warmth and individuality of her personality, but also acted as a nice subtle reminder of her name. In sophisticated societies, it was fashionable for someone, when new, to leave a 'hint' of their name, to ease peoples memory. After all, if you want to be popular, you're going to make sure people can remember what to call you.

Rose slipped the offensive coloured ink jar into her bag and extracted her timetable. One hour to go till she was free, and she couldn't figure out where she was supposed to go. She felt foolish, but surely the 'lesson' couldn't be as simple as she thought it was? The classroom was emptying fast, Phoenix waiting a respectable distance from her, and Rose was determined not so show such a weakness as asking for help. However, since Phoenix had been adamant that they stick together for the rest of the day (something which Rose was actually quite thankful for), Rose knew that she would need to do the unthinkable, and highly unfashionable, and ask her for help.

Glancing at Phoenix a couple of times awkwardly, Rose slipped the timetable into her hand without a single utterance. Taking it with a slight smirk Phoenix gave it a look, and instantly understood her problem.

"'Free Study' just means a free lesson." Phoenix paused, looking at Rose's face for confirmation. "You're going to be picked up at the end of the school day, aren't you?" She surmised in an even low tone. Rose gave a reluctant nod.

"Look, it might just be better if I walked you back. You don't know the town yet, and I can imagine it'll get quite awkward if your mum arrives and finds her precious little daughter has been turned green." She ignored Rose's quick glare, continuing, "Probably best if I explain the situation to her. Or some version of the situation, is probably more suitable. Which house do you live?"

"The one at the end of Old Waters Road."

Phoenix gave a low whistle. "Oh, yeah, I know the place. There was a massive accident about 5 years ago, the place nearly burnt down. A problem with the gas, I think. Big, major stuff. Which has completely been sorted out now and is absolutely safe." She added when Rose gave her an exasperated look.

Phoenix lead Rose through a few backstreets and out into the open village square, a lot quicker then Rose and her father had managed to get to the school that morning. What surprised Rose however was that the square was teaming with life. When she and her father had passed the square that morning, they only clipped the edge, and could only see the crowds which they just associated with the morning rush to work. But apparently, the 'rush to work' didn't really exist, and according to Phoenix, the town market every Monday, Thursday and Saturday was their work, for a lot of the people in the village. It was their place to trade.

Pulling Rose through the crowds between various stalls, Phoenix gave her a mischievous smile as she pointed out where various things were sold, and the people who sold them.

Just as they were approaching a stall layered with various jars and herbs and powders, Phoenix violently pulled Rose away and behind a nearby stall. Crouching so they weren't visible over the display, Phoenix cautiously peered around the side, her eyes fixed on some unknown enemy.

" _What in Oz name is going on? Are you crazy?"_ Rose spat angrily, her voice just above a stage whisper. Phoenix's head whipped back round and she gave Rose a slightly deranged expression to silence her. Rose grudgingly remained quiet, and looked up at the tall figure of the stall tender.

He placed a lettuce into a bag, handed it across the stall, and then returned Rose's semi bemused look with one of amused confusion.

"Why, Miss Rachaels _and friend._ To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?"

Phoenix's head revolved slowly to regard him with a dangerously mischievous expression on her cocked head. She opened her mouth to retort-

"Good evening, Mrs Rachaels. I had some more Blackstone imported in, just for you," came a voice, wafting from somewhere a short distance away.

Phoenix's face shattered. "Oh, _shit._ "

It was the tender of the apothecary stall. The woman who now stood before it was obviously Phoenix's mother. Her dark hair was pulled away from her face severely, but let to fall down to her waist. Her floor length dress was made from a plain worn-black material, simply tailored to fit her shapely form. A decorative black stone shone from its position on her chest. The neckline was high, and its long sleeves ended just past the wrist, as subtly gloved hands roamed and collected the mysterious objects on the stall.

Phoenix continued to crouch in sulky frustration, muttering words under her breath.

"No! No, no, please don't say it, please don't -" Rose turned in amazement at Phoenix's monologue, her face quite plainly communicating 'are you completely deranged?'

"And I also ordered in more _Emerillium_ for your daughter. Tell her it'll be ready for collection next week, but I want the money in full, no credit or bargaining this time. I ordered it submerged in the Quoxwood oil like she asked."

Phoenix groaned. There was a short pause, then-

" _Excuse me?_ "

"I am so dead." Phoenix confirmed, as her head fell, mortified. Still, the man continued on, undaunted.

"Emerillium. It's an extremely rare green mineral, so rare, in fact-"

" _I know what Emerillium is, you fool._ " Mrs Rachaels shot at him, her voice cold. A couple of small children started to play hide and seek amidst her lengthy skirts. Her face softened to one of disbelief.

"I am a Witch; _you_ of all people should know better. I've been researching its effects for the past decade; do not think that I am ignorant. I know how volatile it is. What do you think you are doing, selling something like _that_ to a child; my daughter no less?"

The stall tender stood speechless for a few moments, before stuttering excuses began to issue forth. The young children continued to play and pull at Mrs Rachaels skirts.

Something within her snapped. In a split second, Mrs Rachaels had sunk down to her knees to stare them down at eye level, stopping one of the kids in its tracks inches from her face. Waves of ice emanated from her coolly calm persona; the stillness unnerved the two children.

"If you do not stop running around my legs, I will hex you. Understand?"

The small child gave a petrified nod, and immediately sprinted away from her with his friend. Mrs Rachaels watched them for a second, then rose to her full height. She turned away from the apothecary stall to make her way home when-

"Ah, Mrs Rachaels! I would like to have a word with you…" The addressed woman turned around to regard the approaching figure with frustration. The red skirt suit of the headmistress was unmistakable.

Mrs Rachaels immediately sunk both hands onto her hips. "What has she done now?" It seemed that this conversation was one which they had had many times before.

Headmistress Penny-Foster waved her hands in exasperation. "She has turned the new girl green! Yes, green. As in 'Wicked Witch of the where-ever-the-hell-she-was-from' _green_."

Mrs Rachaels stared for a moment in shocked disbelief, before turning to the apothecary stall tender reproachfully. " _Emerillium!_ "

But the headmistress wasn't finished yet. "She's also turned herself green! I will not tolerate this; two of my students wondering around the school looking like _that_ , causing all sorts of mayhem." She carried on undaunted.

Mrs Rachaels face darkened. " _Looking like what?"_

Penny-Foster appeared not to have heard her. "I'm sorry, Mrs Rachaels, but this really is quite enough. I can not allow her to continue the almost constant disruption and disregard for the rules. Madame Pritchard tells me she is refusing to cooperate with her in the annual GreenDay Production. I will not have it. As I told you last year, all students are expected to contribute, whether on stage or off it. Please, make sure she gets the message, and make sure that when she arrives on school grounds tomorrow, that her skin is as the Unnamed God intended. Good day, Mrs Rachaels."

Mrs Penny-Foster turned her heal and left the fuming Mrs Rachaels in her wake.

Phoenix saw her cue to make a run for it. She grabbed Rose's shoulder and gestured with her head. They leapt up and started running.

"PHOENIX!" Her mother roared.

And they continued running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few things I want to point out. Phoenix mentioned (without naming) Emerillium in the previous chapter. It is the green pigmentation which was used in her greenifying potion, and was also the mineral which made Elphaba green. Imagine Emerillium having similar properties to Alkali metals. It is rather explosive when the raw thing comes in contact with water, which is why it is kept submerged in oil. That is why water burns Elphaba's skin, as though it is not in a pure form, it reacts with the water. And yes, I know the name isn't very imaginative, but if you come up with something better, please let me know!
> 
> The next few chapters are going to be about Phoenix and Rose becoming friends (including a 'secrets scene'- watch out for that!), plus a few more of Phoenix's pranks as the Village prepare for GreenDay. Oh, and yes, the very next chapter, you will be meeting Rose's mother, Glinda, and finding out what the past 18 years has done to her. After that, preparations for the school's GreenDay Production begins, and from there the plot twists and turns.


	6. The Sound of Running Water

_But the headmistress wasn't finished yet. "I'm sorry, Mrs Rachaels, but this really is quite enough... Madame Pritchard tells me she is refusing to cooperate with her in the annual GreenDay Production. I will not have it. As I told you last year, all students are expected to contribute, whether on stage or off it. Please, make sure she gets the message, and make sure that when she arrives on school grounds tomorrow, that her skin is as the Unnamed God intended. Good day, Mrs Rachaels."_

 _Mrs Penny-Foster turned her heal and left the fuming Mrs Rachaels in her wake._

 _Phoenix saw her cue to make a run for it. She grabbed Rose's shoulder and gestured with her head. They leapt up and started running._

" _PHOENIX!" Her mother roared._

 _And they continued running._

Skipping round to the back of the market and pulling a steep left, Phoenix dragged Rose down another narrow lane at full pelt before breaking out at a small pedestrian crossroads, in the centre of which stood a thick stone well. Phoenix collapsed against the side of it, her arm snaking up around the thick iron post as she dissolved into unrestrained gasping laughter. Rose heard the notes of a cackle buried in there. She creeped up beside her panting heavily, bracing herself against the cold brickwork as she unsurely joined in laughing.

"Oh... I am in soooo much trouble when I get home." Phoenix smiled. She waved off the look of uncertainty on the girl's face. _No big deal._ She didn't however say anything further, other than the sounds of heavy breathing.

"So, how often does this sort of thing happen?" Rose said, referring to Phoenix's obvious talent for trouble.

"Probably on a less regular basis then you imagine, but I do try to keep up appearances. You caught me on a good day. Or, should I say, a _bad_ one..."

There was another muted pause whilst the girls' breathing slowed, before Phoenix nudged Rose's green arm and took off running again. As Rose followed her she spotted a couple of boys from the school just visible at the end of the lane.

Phoenix took her down another narrow lane, off to the side down what looked like someone's private garden path and then back round in what felt the opposite direction behind towering hedges till the mud path unexpectedly opened out into a spacious river bank.

Rose stood frozen as the redhead walked out across the fresh vivid grass to perch on the green shelf before the water. The blonde slowly made her way forward, the low lying stream becoming a thick river as it came into view. She noticed there were several large boulders dotted about the fast flowing water forming a wide chain of widely set stepping stones, and that in ages past the river must have flowed higher, carving out the land to where she now stood. Yet now it was much lighter, much lower, flowing forcefully against the opposite bank leaving several feet of exposed, compacted mud below the four foot mini-cliff Phoenix was seated upon.

Rose cautiously took a grassy perch next to the (quite bizarrely) serenely quiet redhead, wide eyes flicking between her green face and the fast flowing water rumbling around the rocks.

"We don't have open flowing water in the Emerald City. I mean, my mum- I was told that there are underground channels that some old dirty river flows through, but it's sealed off, it's toxic. But I've never seen..."

The redhead barely acknowledged her.

"Make sure you don't fall in."

Rose frowned. "I'm not that stu-"

"If you thought crying was painful, you don't want to know what real water feels like over green skin like ours."

Rose frowned, mind catching an uneasy undercurrent of meaning. Phoenix shrugged her off again. "I was curious. I was green. After you hear all those stories- well, as I said, I got curious." Smiling, she turned to regard the other girl, and rolled her eyes at the blonde's horrified expression.

"Oh come on, I didn't bathe in it. Just trickled my hands under the tap for a moment. It kinda stings like hell really. Still gave me a rash like sunburn even after the Emerillium had worn off. So you really don't want to fall in. Plus, I don't have any towels with me..."

Rose was mercifully quiet for a few moments. Then frowned again, folding her green arms against her body with an almost audible huff.

"How the hell do you know about the Witch of the West. How the hell does anybody here know about her? We're in the furthest point away from the Emerald City you can possibly go, we're in the centre of bloody nowhere, so how the hell do you know about the Witch of the West? How come GreenDay is still celebrated here? We moved bloody _here_ to get away from all that ridiculousosity and yet you still celebrate it. What is wrong with you?"

Phoenix stared at her incredulously. "You're still getting the hang of the whole social skills thing, aren't you?"

She stared the smaller girl as Rose's eyes flickered down once more to her perfect skirt hem. She could tell by the slant of the shoulders that the pink princess wasn't as thick shelled as she put out to be, and; - was that a sigh?

"I've thought that my whole life. My mum, when we moved here, couldn't get it either. Flew into one of her mad tempers- and yeah, if you've ever witnessed one, you don't want to be around for another. They were trying to flee the whole 'Wicked Witch' madness, and it was just after everything happened with that 'Kansas Girl', and it- well- kind of enraged her. My mother I mean. Not the... Well, anyway. That was a few years before I was born. We don't really celebrate it in quite the same way here. It is just a hangover from the Emerald City; we don't decorate the village and put green banners up and everything like I think they do, I think barely half the town knows it's actually happening. All we get are a few cards. Sometimes a little dress-up, but it's really nothing more than an excuse to be silly and drink heavily. Well, as far as some of the tavern regulars are concerned."

"Then what about your school production? That sounded like a lot more than just a 'hangover from the Emerald City'."

"It's... tradition. The school likes indulging in the 'extracurricular spectrum of learning', meaning the teachers get time off trying to keep us in order and we all get to mess about for a few hours a week till the big (green) day when we get to make complete idiots out of ourselves. It's only since the old drama teacher retired last year that it's started to become something... more than it used to be. Technically speaking we're all supposed to be involved, but good ol' Jannett used to let me get away with just painting a few trees and providing a broomstick or two, but now the new cow wants more. She expects _everyone_ to be involved, and she wants the show to be 'authentic' and _perfect._ I think she's been teaching in another of the outlying areas for a few years, but she's an Emerald City woman, born and bred. Of course, she doesn't know shit about our ways and our town."

Rose felt she heard and unspoken ' _me_ ' dropped into the end of the sentence and couldn't help the smile that crept over her face. She tilted her head down to hid it.

"And so, the green boy, your ex..."

"Told the evil witch I loved playing the villain so much I was a bloody expert on the matter. Of all the bloody things that traitor..."

Rose kept her head down, finding Phoenix's choice of words a little unusual. Though they'd only just met, Rose had a feeling that Phoenix didn't need to resort to dramatics for a couple of small telltails. She got the distinct impression there was more to what happened than she was letting on.

"Madamme Pritchard came running up to me at the end of assembly- you know, the whole school were still there, just starting to file out; and she's practically jumping up and down with this stupid excited look on her face, saying that she was starting to get worried she'd never find a 'Wicked Witch'. And then she's asking me about everything that I know about what happened and of Kiamo Ko and she's literally babbling on and on in hysterics, and the whole school just kind of halted and watched, and... well, I was quite justified for what I did to Kris, and more."

Rose softly nodded in understanding. The torrent of words had been very similar to her own when locked up in the bathroom- a warm flooding relief after the dam burst. Yes, definitely bathroom conversation, or- Rose grinned slyly at the other connotation her rambling mind had brought into her head.

Yet there was something niggling at her, yet again, digging out at that notch of curious uncertainty. After eighteen years since the fateful night when the Witch of the West had been killed and Rose's own mother Glinda the Good had had to announce the death of her secret best friend, barely anyone could remember the facts that backed up the now twisted and warped heroic story. They only remembered how the foreign girl, the alien girl, had slain the Wicked Witch in her great castle. Few barely remember the name of the mystical land the girl had hailed from. And even fewer still- those indirectly involved or just _nuts_ , remembered the name of the outlying castle within which the woman had died. Rose could quite understand an Emerald woman still knowing all the details- you occasionally got freaks like that in the Big City, but _how the hell_ does a girl _born and raised_ in one of the farthest villages from the Capital know the name of that castle? How the _hell_ could she even pronounce it correctly, let it roll off her tongue as if it was some foreign language she had mastered or a fact of life ingrained upon her memory. Rose knew all the intimate details of the murder which had happened in Kiamo Ko; her mother had made sure to tell her the truth about the brave courageous (even if slightly unusual) woman she had once befriended at Shiz University. _But how the hell did Phoenix know?_

Phoenix patted her on the knee.

"Time to go. We'd better get to your house before your mum tries to pick you up at school."

Oh _shit._ Rose's mother. Glinda the Good.

And Rose was still obstinately green.

As was Phoenix.


End file.
